Goater feeds again on United's title aspirations

Manchester United 1 Manchester City 1

After the miracle of Maine Road, yesterday brought the second coming for Manchester City. True, they did not record their first double over Manchester United in 48 years, but the dramatic circumstances of Shaun Goater's late riposte to a trademark goal by Ruud van Nistelrooy ensured a moral victory for Kevin Keegan's team in the 128th League derby.

Goater, a United youth player 14 years ago, had been on the pitch just nine seconds when he rose to head in a chipped pass from Shaun Wright-Phillips following a free-kick by Ali Benarbia. Since none of the participants had started the game, and both Goater and Benarbia were taking their first touches, Keegan could justifiably claim to have made not one inspired substitution, but three.

Outclassed and out-fought during the opening 45 minutes, City were vastly improved in the second half and in stoppage time came tantalisingly close to repeating November's triumph. The strains of "Feed the Goat and he will score" were still rising from the blue corner of Old Trafford when Marc-Vivien Foé's cross looped off Wes Brown and slapped against United's crossbar.

Time seemed to stand still as Nicolas Anelka controlled the loose ball before rolling it to Goater, the Bermudan firing past Roy Carroll. City's bench celebrated what would have been their first triumph at United since Denis Law's famous backheeled winner 29 years earlier, only for the referee, Alan Wiley, to rule that Anelka had handled the ball.

Television replays showed it was actually a case of ball to hand, although City could hardly complain. Immediately after the opening goal, David Sommeil had escaped unpunished after cutting down David Beckham in the penalty area.

The incident rankled with Sir Alex Ferguson as he reflected on an absorbing contest. "We should have had a penalty – these are decisive moments," the United manager said. "It's a disappointing result in terms of the opportunities and possession we had, but City deserved a draw because of the way they kept going. It feels like a defeat. But a point's a point and it may yet win us the league."

Keegan rose above the temptation to say he had "loved it, really loved it", instead admitting: "I've got to be honest and say we're delighted with a point here." Of the success of his substitutes, the City manager said: "We just had to try something. We were getting a foothold without really threatening them."

City were on the back foot even before a ball was kicked Peter Schmeichel suffering a calf strain during the warm-up. A loudspeaker appeal for Nicky Weaver to go to the visitors' dressing-room failed to flush out the third-choice custodian, forcing Keegan to name a young Dane, Kevin Stuhr-Ellegaard, as substitute keeper.

Schmeichel's understudy, Carlo Nash, had ample scope to prove his worth. Driven on by Roy Keane at his most authoritative, and with Ryan Giggs and Beckham peppering the danger zone with crosses, United displayed all the passion Ferguson alleged they lacked over at Moss Side and richly deserved their early lead.

Keane sent Giggs clear on the left, from where his pass flashed across Nash's goal and Van Nistelrooy, having stolen away from Sylvain Distin, steered in his 27th goal of the season. City were shaking like Michael Jackson's knee at feeding time when Mr Wiley gave Sommeil the benefit of scant doubt in United's next attack.

There was greater urgency about City after the interval. However, it was clear that even Eyal Berkovic's tireless probing was unlikely to trick the palpably unfit Robbie Fowler into troubling Roy Carroll, whose juggling of an Anelka shot earlier on had offered City their only real hope of a goal.

Van Nistelrooy, released by Beckham in the 57th minute, could have given United the cushion they craved, but hesitated long enough for Distin to make a fine saving tackle. Reprieved and relieved, City at last countered menacingly with a Foé cross which clipped Keane and brought a desperate save from Carroll.

Nash once had to race 15 yards out of his area to tackle Giggs. City, though, were encouraged by their hosts' failure to finish them off, and Goater, who had managed only two goals since scoring twice in the 3-1 win at Maine Road, rewarded their boldness when Brown and Rio Ferdinand failed to jump with him.

The veteran striker thus shaved four seconds off the Premiership record for a goal by a substitute, which had been set by Jamie Cureton for Norwich against Chelsea in 1995 and stood at a slothful 13 seconds. City will savour the sweetness longer than the statistics.

Goals: Van Nistelrooy (18) 1-0; Goater (86) 1-1.

Manchester United (4-3-1-2): Carroll 4; G Neville 6, Ferdinand 6, Brown 7, Silvestre 6; Beckham 7, Keane 8, Veron 7 (Butt, 76); Scholes 6; Van Nistelrooy 7, Giggs 7 (Solskjaer, 88). Substitutes not used: P Neville, O'Shea, Ricardo (gk).

Manchester City (3-5-2): Nash 7; Sommeil 6, Howey 6, Distin 7; Sun Jihai 7, Foé 6, Berkovic 8 (Benarbia, 86), Horlock 5 (Wright-Phillips 6, 67), Jensen 5; Anelka 6, Fowler 3 (Goater, 86). Substitutes not used: Dunne, Stuhr-Ellegaard (gk).

Referee: A Wiley (Burntwood) 6.

Bookings: Manchester United: G Neville. Manchester City: Foé.

Man of the match: Berkovic.

Attendance: 67, 646.